Using the Email Client

UCBC's Agent Portal includes a full email client built right into the portal, next to your calls, chats, and tickets. You don't need a separate email program — everything you need to read, write, organize, and automatically sort your mail is right here, under the Email section of the Agent Portal.

This guide walks through everyday email tasks: checking your inbox, writing and replying to messages, organizing mail into folders, and setting up Rules so UCBC sorts your incoming mail for you automatically.

Tip: Email lives in the same portal as your calendar and your settings. Look for Email, Calendar, and Settings links near the bottom of the folder list on the left — they all open inside the same screen without navigating away.

---

1. Folders & Navigation#

The folder sidebar#

When you open Email, the left-hand column lists your folders:

• Inbox — new mail arrives here.
• Drafts — messages you started but haven't sent yet.
• Outbox — messages that are queued to go out (used briefly while a message is sending).
• Sent — copies of mail you've sent.
• Junk — mail marked as junk/spam.
• Trash — deleted mail.
• Archive — mail you've archived.
• Any custom folders you've created (including folders nested under Inbox) appear in this same list.

Each folder shows a small blue badge with the number of unread messages in it, so you can tell at a glance where new mail is waiting. If you have sub-folders under Inbox, a small chevron (arrow) appears next to Inbox — click it to expand or collapse the list of sub-folders underneath.

Switching folders#

1. Click any folder name in the left sidebar.
2. The middle column (the message list) updates to show that folder's messages, newest first.
3. Click a message in that list to read it in the reading pane on the right.

Tip: Clicking a message in Drafts doesn't open a read-only view — it reopens that message in the compose window exactly where you left off, so you can keep writing.

---

The built-in webmail inbox

Screenshot needed · webmail-inbox

2. Reading Mail#

Opening a message#

1. Click any message in the message list (the middle column).
2. The full message opens in the reading pane on the right — sender name and email address, date/time, subject, and the message body.
3. Opening a message automatically marks it as read (the bold unread styling and the unread dot disappear).

Viewing and previewing attachments#

If a message has file attachments, they appear as small chips below the message body, each showing the file name and its size.

1. Click an attachment chip.
2. If it's a type the portal can preview right in your browser (PDF, Word document, or plain text), a preview window opens showing the file immediately — no need to download it first.
3. From that preview window you can click Download to save a copy, or Close to dismiss it.
4. For file types that can't be previewed, clicking the attachment downloads it directly instead.

Marking a message read or unread#

• Open message toolbar: with a message open, click the envelope icon in the row of small icon buttons above the message (next to Reply/Reply All/Forward) to toggle Mark Unread.
• Right-click menu: right-click any message in the list and choose Mark as Read or Mark as Unread (the option shown depends on the message's current state).
• Multi-select: select several messages (see Tips below) and right-click to Mark as Read or Mark as Unread all of them at once.

Tip: Click one message, then hold Shift and click another to select every message in between — just like a desktop mail program. Hold Ctrl and click individual messages to add or remove them from the selection one at a time. Once you have more than one message selected, right-clicking acts on the whole selection.

---

3. Composing a New Email#

1. In the message list column, find the envelope icon with a small green "+" badge in the top corner (next to the search box) and click it. This opens a new, blank message.
2. Fill in the fields at the top:
   • To — the recipient's email address (required).
   • Cc — anyone you want to carbon-copy (optional).
   • Subject — required.
3. Write your message in the large body area below. A formatting toolbar is available — click the small font icon at the far right of the toolbar strip to reveal font, size, text color, highlight color, bold/italic/underline, alignment, and bullet/numbered list controls. Click it again to hide the formatting controls.
4. To attach a file, click the paperclip icon in the toolbar, then choose one or more files from your computer. Each attached file appears as a small removable chip above the message body; click the "x" on a chip to remove it before sending.
5. When the message is ready, click the Send button (the paper-airplane icon at the top-left of the compose window).

Saving a draft (and discarding one)#

UCBC's email client doesn't use a separate "Save Draft" button — instead:

• If you start writing a message and then navigate away (click another folder, open another message, or close the tab/browser) before sending it, the portal automatically saves your unfinished message into Drafts so you can pick it up later.
• To continue an unfinished message, open the Drafts folder and click on it — it reopens in the compose window with everything you typed still there.
• If you want to throw away a message you're writing without saving it anywhere, click Discard (the trash-can icon/link at the top-right of the compose window) instead of simply navigating away. Discard removes it for good — if you had resumed an existing draft, Discard also deletes that saved draft.

Tip: Because any unsent message gets auto-saved to Drafts, you never have to remember to save your work — just use Discard only when you genuinely want to throw a message away.

---

4. Replying & Forwarding#

With a message open in the reading pane, look at the small row of icon buttons near the top-right (next to the sender's name and timestamp):

1. Reply (curved-arrow icon) — opens a new compose window addressed back to the original sender only, with the original message quoted below your new text. Type your response above the quote and click Send.
2. Reply All (double curved-arrow icon) — same as Reply, but addresses your response to the original sender and everyone else who was on the original To/Cc list. Use this when the whole group needs to see your answer.
3. Forward (share/arrow icon) — opens a new compose window with the original message quoted and attachments carried over, but with the To field left empty for you to fill in. Use this to pass a message along to someone who wasn't on it originally.

You can also start a Reply, Reply All, or Forward from the right-click menu on any message in the list (see the next section) — you don't have to open the message first.

---

5. The Right-Click Menu on a Message#

Right-clicking a message in the list opens a context menu. What you see depends on which folder you're in and whether you've selected one message or several.

Single message (normal folders — Inbox, Archive, custom folders, etc.)#

• Create Rule from Sender — only appears when the message has a real sender. One click jumps straight to the Rules page with a new rule already pre-filled to match this exact sender and this folder — you just choose what should happen to mail like it and save. This is the fastest way to turn "I always want mail from this person filed somewhere specific" into an actual rule. See Section 6 below.
• Copy — hover over it to open a flyout list of all your other folders; click one to place a copy of the message there while leaving the original where it is.
• Quick Print — opens the message in a new browser tab formatted for printing, so you can print it immediately without it cluttering your reading pane.
• Reply / Reply All / Forward — same actions described in Section 4, available without opening the message first.
• Mark as Read / Mark as Unread — toggles the message's read state (the label shown matches the message's current state).
• Move — hover over it to open a flyout list of your folders; click one to move the message there, removing it from the current folder.
• Junk — moves the message to your Junk folder. Use this for unwanted mail that isn't outright spam-filtered already.
• Archive — saves the message to a local folder on your own computer (which you set up once under Archive Settings) and then removes it from the mail server, freeing up space in your mailbox. If you haven't set up a local archive folder yet, this prompts you to do that first.
• Delete — asks you to confirm, then moves the message to Trash (or, if it's already in Trash, deletes it permanently).

Multiple messages selected (bulk actions)#

Select two or more messages (click one, then Ctrl-click or Shift-click more), then right-click any of them. You get a shorter menu that applies to every selected message at once: Mark as Read, Mark as Unread, Move (with the same folder flyout), Junk, Archive, and Delete. There's no Create Rule, Copy, Quick Print, or Reply/Forward on a multi-selection, since those only make sense for one message at a time.

Messages in Outbox#

A message waiting to be sent in Outbox gets its own two-item menu instead: Retry (attempts to send it again) and Delete (removes it from the queue).

Right-clicking a folder itself#

Right-clicking a folder name in the sidebar (rather than a message) opens a folder-level menu — what's offered depends on the folder:

• Inbox: New Folder, Mark All as Read, Archive All, Delete All.
• Drafts / Sent / Junk / Outbox: Delete All.
• Trash: Permanently Delete All (deleting from Trash is always final).
• Archive: Mark All as Read, Rename, Delete All, Archive Settings.
• Any custom folder or Inbox sub-folder: Mark All as Read, Rename, Archive All, Delete All, Delete Folder.

---

The email Rule builder

Screenshot needed · email-rule-builder

6. Rules — Automatically Sorting Incoming Mail#

Rules let UCBC automatically file incoming mail into a folder for you — based on who it's from, who it's to, or what the subject contains — so you stop manually dragging the same kinds of messages into the same folders every day.

Opening Rules#

Click Rules in the left sidebar (below Calendar, above Settings).

Creating a rule from scratch#

1. On the Rules page, click Add.
2. (Optional) Give it a Name, so you can recognize it later in the list.
3. Set the Condition: choose From, To, or Subject from the dropdown, then type the text it should match in the box next to "Contains." For example, choose From and type billing@vendor.com to match every message from that address, or choose Subject and type Invoice to match any message with that word in the subject.
4. Set the Action: choose Move to (take the message out of Inbox and file it in the target folder) or Copy to (leave the original where it is and also place a copy in the target folder), then pick the destination folder from the dropdown next to it.
5. Leave Stop processing further rules checked if you want UCBC to stop checking additional rules once this one matches (this is the normal, expected behavior for a "Move" rule). Uncheck it only if you want later rules to still get a chance to also act on the same message.
6. Click Save.

Once saved, the rule is active immediately and starts filing new mail that matches it.

The one-click shortcut: "Create Rule from Sender"#

The fastest way to create a rule is straight from a message you've already received:

1. Right-click the message in your Inbox (or any folder).
2. Choose Create Rule from Sender.
3. The Rules page opens with a new rule already pre-filled — the condition is set to From and the value is already filled in with that message's sender address.
4. Choose the Action (Move to / Copy to) and the destination folder, then click Save.

This is exactly the same Add Rule form as above, just started for you with the sender already typed in.

Editing a rule#

Click directly on any rule in the list — this opens the same form used to create it, but filled in with that rule's current Name, Condition, Action, and folder. Make your changes and click Save.

Enabling or disabling a rule#

Each rule in the list has an Enabled / Disabled toggle button. Click it to turn a rule off without deleting it (handy if you want to temporarily stop a rule from acting, but might want it back later) — click it again to turn it back on.

Reordering rules#

Rules are checked in the order they're listed, top to bottom. Use the up-arrow and down-arrow buttons next to a rule to move it earlier or later in that order. This matters most when "Stop processing further rules" is checked on an earlier rule — once a message matches it, later rules never get a chance to look at that same message.

Deleting a rule#

Click the trash-can icon next to a rule, then confirm. This only removes the rule going forward — it does not undo anything the rule already did to mail that arrived while it was active.

"Apply to Existing Messages" — running a rule on mail you already have#

A rule only affects new mail arriving after you turn it on — it does not automatically touch anything already sitting in your mailbox. If you want a rule to also clean up messages you already received before the rule existed, click the play (▶) icon next to that rule in the list. This runs the rule's exact condition and action against the mail already in your mailbox right now (searching across your folders, skipping the rule's own destination folder) and moves or copies whatever matches. You'll see a confirmation showing how many existing messages were affected.

Tip: Think of a new rule like setting a mail carrier's standing instructions — it only applies to mail delivered from now on. Use the play-icon "Apply to Existing Messages" whenever you also want it to go back and sort what's already sitting in your Inbox.

---

7. Search#

1. Switch to the folder you want to search (search looks inside the folder you're currently viewing).
2. Type into the search box at the top of the message list (placeholder text: "Search subject or sender…") and press Enter.
3. The message list updates to show only messages in that folder whose subject or sender matches what you typed.
4. Clear the search box and press Enter again (or just switch folders) to return to the normal, unfiltered view.

---

8. Folder Management#

Creating a new folder#

1. Right-click Inbox in the sidebar.
2. Choose New Folder.
3. A small text box appears under Inbox — type the new folder's name and press Enter to create it (or Esc to cancel).

New folders are created as a sub-folder of Inbox and appear nested underneath it in the sidebar.

Renaming a folder#

1. Right-click the folder you want to rename (any custom folder, or Archive).
2. Choose Rename.
3. The folder's name turns into an editable text box right in the sidebar — type the new name and press Enter to confirm (or Esc to cancel).

Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Outbox, Junk, and Trash cannot be renamed.

Deleting a folder#

1. Right-click the custom folder you want to remove.
2. Choose Delete Folder.
3. Confirm when prompted.

Deleting a folder removes it and its contents — the standard folders (Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Outbox, Junk, Trash, Archive) can't be deleted this way, only custom folders and Inbox sub-folders.

---

Quick Reference#